The development of technologies supporting the Internet of Everything (IoE) framework is increasing connectivity between electronic devices and the scope of networks. In order to meet the growing demand on networks, the performance and capabilities of the underlying network components are also increasing. In some cases, the increase in performance and capabilities has led to increased power consumption and greater consumption of physical components of a network.
Many of the network devices rely on consumable physical components, such as fans and air filters, to maintain preferred operating conditions (e.g., preferred thermal operating conditions). In some cases, malfunctioning or reduced performance of one consumable physical component will result in another consumable physical component compensating in a manner that increases power consumption or, for example, have other unwanted effects such as increased acoustical noise. For example, in order to maintain an acceptable amount of cooling airflow over equipment, an associated fan may run at a higher speed to compensate for a partially blocked air filter. Maintaining consumable physical components can be challenging, especially for networks that include numerous components spread out over large areas, and in locations that are remote and/or thinly staffed (e.g., datacenters). Customer demand for lower device and maintenance costs also impacts maintenance strategies for the consumable physical components. Replacing or repairing a consumable physical component before it malfunctions or before the performance of an associated networking component has fallen below an acceptable level may result in unnecessary costs. On the scale of a large network, the operations costs associated with maintaining consumable physical components can rise to a burdensome level.
In accordance with common practice the various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given system, method or device. Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote like features throughout the specification and figures.